RF (radio frequency) communication systems are subject to fading phenomena which produce noise and distortion in received information signals. One approach to overcoming the effects of fading is the use of a diversity receiver system.
In a diversity system, more than one receive antenna is employed. Even if a signal fade occurs at one antenna, there is a finite probability that a signal of relatively strong amplitude will still be appearing at one or more of the other antennas in the diversity system. The use of multiple antennas allows the receiver to operate on two or more independent versions of the transmitted signal, and to combine or select these signals in such a way as to mitigate the effects of fading. The more independent the fading processes associated with each branch, the better the combiner performance.
A method well known in the art for combining these branch signals is called maximum ratio combining, or max-ratio. In the max-ratio technique, the branch signals are adjusted so that they are in phase, and then they are weighted in proportion to their individual signal-to-noise ratios before being summed. Of course, in utilizing this technique, a reference of some sort must be established in order to phase compensate the received signals. This reference is commonly established through the transmission of a pilot tone. A pilot tone is simply a signal that is transmitted at a frequency adjacent to the modulated signal, from which the carrier phase and amplitude are estimated. Unfortunately, the use of a pilot tone carries with it the disadvantage of an increase in the required transmission bandwidth, as well as a higher peak-to-average ratio of the transmitted signal. A pilot tone system is also susceptible to decorrelation between the pilot tone and the information bearing signal. This can lead to errors in the phase adjustment and weighting processes.
Accordingly, a need arises for a method for max-ratio combining in a diversity system which does not suffer from higher bandwidth requirements nor the decorrelation and peak to average problems associated with the separate pilot tone technique.